Failed Bailout
by SilkenSkyStudio
Summary: After the Floating Continent disaster, Celes's attempts to parachute to safety do not go as planned. Contains moderate peril/DiD content.


Things had gone completely to hell. The Warring Triad had been unbalanced, the Floating Continent had been shattered, and the Blackbird had been struck down in the air, scattering everybody through the sky. Celes Chere had instinctively made a run for one of the emergency parachutes on the airship's deck before everything exploded, but hadn't managed to get it on before she was blasted into the air.

Celes was tumbling out of control in the sky, desperately holding on to her pack. She thought to herself as she spun around in freefall. If she wasn't able to get herself straightened out and facing the right way in time, that parachute would fail to save her...

She kept trying to get herself into a safe posture, but every time she came close, an explosion in the sky or a piece of debris knocked her back into a tumble. There was no time to get herself steadied any more. She knew the risks of opening her parachute while she was positioned like this, but she knew the risks of waiting any longer to open it were even greater. She reached into the pack to grab at the pilot chute, pulling at it to get it out. The pilot caught the rushing air, and the main chute soon followed, although in the turbulence, Celes soon found herself in the worst possible spot.

Celes had somehow wound up above the parachute, and as it blossomed open, it engulfed her. The champagne-colored canopy collided with her as she fell through it, wrapping around her and entangling her in the lines. She gritted her teeth and immediately set to work on trying to free herself, trying not to give in to panic despite her desperate circumstances.

Trying to untangle herself from the parachute was a difficult endeavor. The canopy was wrapped around Celes, and every time she tried to pull it off her, the wind blew the off-white silk back into her face.

"Mmmph! Mmmff!" Celes grunted and groaned as she struggled against the parachute, plummeting out of control. She would burn it away, but it was impossible to focus on magic in this state and the risks of using fire magic while completely wrapped up like this were too great… if only she had her weapon at hand, she could cut herself free with no problem…

Celes eventually managed to pry the canopy off of her and force it away, letting her focus on freeing herself from the lines. She had plenty enough of being tied up after her experience in Figaro, and was not enjoying to roll and spin herself around to unwind herself, acting like a spool to untangle the cords from her body.

Eventually, she managed to get herself untangled and free, but this parachute was far too fouled to be of any help to her. Celes sighed and pulled the release handle, cutting the useless mess away. She was losing altitude fast, and there wasn't a moment to waste. She gave herself just as much time as she needed to get clear of the cut away chute before pulling to open her reserve.

Another white canopy blossomed open, successfully deploying this time, but before Celes could fully decelerate, she found herself crashing into the ocean. The parachute had at least saved her from hitting at lethal velocity, but the shock of the crash and the cold water had left her stunned, and trying to swim against the waves was impossible.

The canopy settled and fell on to the water's surface, covering Celes and trapping her. She kept trying to tread water, but the ordeal she had just experienced had exhausted her. The woman gasped, taking a deep breath as she sank underwater, a struggling silk-covered arm being the last thing to remain above the surface before she was taken under by the waves…

"Blubb… blubblbllll… gggrrbbllll..."

Celes kept holding her breath, hoping for luck to save her. The currents and tides carried her towards the shore of a desolate island as she struggled to conserve her oxygen… fortunately, she was lucky enough to be deposited on land by the waves before she began drowning, but the ordeal had completely exhausted her. She blacked out, falling unconscious in her tattered outfit and the parachute wrapped around her...


End file.
